Schubert wrote an equally famous song for piano and voice based on the poem. Here is an orchestrated version (not orchestrated by Schubert). For those who don’t speak German (I do, by the way) this comes with English subtitles.

Like this:

Related

Post navigation

20 responses

The worst nightmare for any mother or father – to fail in the responsibility as a parent. And a trauma for any child – not to be listened to and understood.
It is almost painful to read your poem – but I like it, it’s wonderful.

The “Erlkönig” by Goethe is one of the few poems that I remember from school. We had to learn it, German was the second foreign language i Swedish schools, but in contrast to other poems of the German romantic movement, it was so easy to understand and to like.

Oh dear! It is very hard complimenting such a good poem. It humbles me really. When I was about 7 or 8, my parents had a small record of Marian Anderson singing this lidd you allude to in your poem, and although I didn’t understand the words (for my mother-Tongue is Hebrew) I knew them by heart and understood the meaning, and connected it to my aching self as a child. And you dont say, “she is dead!”, which is brilliant in many ways. So, thank you, Ofrah

Mr Gillespie,
I like that unlike Goethe, you have not explicitly ‘killed’ the child. I would like to infer that death more as a metaphor of the child in us dying when we seem to submit to the pragmatic view-point of the adults…
I must admit I did not realize the depth of this poem until I read the review at Maclellan’s blog. Now that I have realized and also read the original by Goethe, it is singular-much appreciated.
Now that raises a question-What differentiates an amateur poet and a master?

Now that raises a question-What differentiates an amateur poet and a master?

Kevin was differentiating between an amateur poet and a professional poet. He was defining an amateur as one who doesn’t make a living by (usually) teaching poetry in an academic setting, and who doesn’t receive support through the usual venues of affiliated schools, poets and publishers.

As to the difference between an amateur poet and a master?

I suppose, for me, the master would be the poet who has demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the poetic art, not just as theory, but in practice as well. The master doesn’t just understand great art, but demonstrates great art. But, as an aside (and this is a story I’ve told elsewhere on this site) I remember in college sitting with a few other ambitious poets and artists. We were all discussing what constituted genius. Finally, after listening to all of us, a young woman pricked all our pomposity by pointing out that we were all defining genius in our own image. :-)

Actually that question might seem a bit irrelevant here but I was reading this post and the post of your poem being reviewed by Maclellan, so it got a bit mixed up.
I was thinking that not committing to death might and using it as a metaphor is less tragic. But on second thoughts, did Goethe think that it was more tragic to live while the child in you had died? Intentions, Mr Gillespie! :-)

“We were all defining genius in our own image.”
With that in mind, Mr Gillespie, will it not be a little bit unjust declare any one poet greater than all the others?
PS-There is no Byron in the “Poetry by” section. Any particular reason or just coincidence?
PPS-Under certain posts, the comment section is missing eg Mother Goose and The Songbird fable. Where do I comment on it?

//With that in mind, Mr Gillespie, will it not be a little bit unjust declare any one poet greater than all the others?//

No, at least not to me. The “great” use techniques that can be objectively understood and appreciated. Until one begins to understand some of those techniques (why readers – human beings – gravitate toward some poets/artists/composers more than others) these questions will continue to seem vast and mysterious, if not impenetrable. I think that part of the reason we wound up with “critical and cultural relativism” in the 20th century is because the generation after the modernists (baby boomers) had little to no clue about the tradition prior to the modernists. They convinced themselves that the appellation “great” was completely arbitrary – that there was no reason it should be applied to each one of them.

//There is no Byron in the “Poetry by” section.//

Well… :-) I’m only one person. That’s the only reason. Most of my reviews have been requests. Is there a poem by Byron you think I should consider (that isn’t book length)?

We in the United States, as in any other country, aren't always represented by who governs us. So long as you afford to others the dignity and respect for life and liberty you would afford yourself, it doesn't matter to me where you're from, what language you speak or what truth you believe in. You're welcome here.

Archives

Archives

Patrick Gillespie has self-published one book of Poetry and edited nothing besides. His poetry and criticism has been firmly ignored and hasn't been translated into a single language. Gillespie has never been a Poet Laureate (let alone a Poet Laureate of the Blogosphere), a Literary Fellow of the National Endowment of the Arts, or a Fellow of the Vermont Arts Council. He has received no prizes from the Poetry Foundation (or any other poetry related organizations) and the devil reportedly worries that Hell will freeze over if he ever receives anything like a Genius Grant from the MacArthur Fellows Program. He has been firmly rejected by any and all publishers. No plaques have been or will be dedicated to him or his poetry. Gillespie has received no recognition or prizes of any kind. He holds zero academic credentials or titles. In short, Gillespie is just like you -- of little to no importance to all but a few. You have no reason whatsoever to read him. He wears bottle-cap glasses, works as a Carpenter, has three daughters and a good sense of humor. He is currently replacing all the bad windows in his Vermont home.